ms charming, only princes get the princess
by little red after the wolf
Summary: prequel They dance until they're dizzy in a cardboard castle with glistening lights. — rilaya, rucas, faya (tw: very mild slut shaming)


**S**he hadn't been read fairy tales as a child. Her mother was too busy chasing a career she'd never have and flipping through jobs that just barely fed her to read her a Goddamn fairy tale.

And she was okay with that. Riley _was_ a fairy tale, dancing around in flowy dresses and eagerly awaiting her Prince Charming. Maya, being the realist, knew that Prince Charming was just a figment of her imagination. That doesn't stop her from dancing with Riley and playing pretend though.

They pretend that their cardboard castle is magical and Riley plays the princess while Maya plays the prince, they dance together and spew cliche lines at each other. This is their fairy tale, this is their magic.

Just Maya and Riley, there is no one but them in this world of pretend.

Spinning for hours until their both too dizzy and tired to dance anymore in their cardboard castle. Maya knows that her best friend wishes it were her Prince Charming but a smile still lights up her face. This is close enough for both of them.

**T**hey turn ten and Christmas is upon them. Maya decorates their cardboard castle with pretty lights that make Riley happier than when that boy asked her to be his Valentine last year.

The blonde smirks at her princess' joy, offering her a hand and asking for a dance. The princess obliges, happily.

They dance until Mr. Matthews tells them that dinner is ready and leave Riley's room with arms wrapped around each other and innocent giggles. This is enough for Maya.

**M**iddle school starts and Riley spends the first day in tears about how some villain picked on her. Maya hunts him down and kicks the crap out of him before she hugs her princess in their cardboard castle.

Riley cries her eyes out, her head in Maya's lap.

"Why can't fairy tales be real?" She whispers, sobs lining her voice.

". . . They are, Riles. I beat the crap out of that douche," the blonde murmurs, "no one messes with my princess."

"Thank you, Maya," she smiles, hugging her best friend.

They sit like that, Riley's head in her lap, in their little kingdom for a long time. This is more than enough for them both.

**W**hen Riley meets Lucas, there is no more cardboard castle. Her fairy tale collapses around her and suddenly, she can't play pretend as Riley's Prince Charming. _Lucas_ is her Prince Charming now.

It kills Maya a little, to see the way they look at each other and how perfectly they fit together. She wants her princess back, she misses dancing the night away. She realizes she's jealous so she tries to find a Prince Charming of her own, Riley encourages her.

She ends up with her tongue down some eight grader's throat and her legs wrapped around him.

She feels nothing but emptiness.

It's when Riley sits behind _him_ on the horse, her head nuzzled into his shoulder and her arms wrapped around his waist that Maya's heart breaks. This isn't even close to enough for her.

**O**ver summer, she goes to Paris. The lights are pretty and smoke fills her lungs each night, a view of the Eiffel Tower painted out the window but it's no fairy tale.

She comes back without her virginity and Riley is confused by how cold she is to that but she still squeals about how Lucas bought her roses "like a prince would" and they danced until midnight was a distant memory. The way she and Maya used to.

It kills the blonde so she sneaks into a different window and fucks him senseless.

It's not like she'd felt anything before she'd slipped out of her clothes and under his covers though.

Riley grows worried for her best friend quickly, they're only 13 and she's slipped away so far, she's not even a virgin. There is no sense of good enough for her anymore.

**R**iley is still not dating Lucas when school starts up again but everyone can see that he's Prince Charming and she's Cinderella. Maya sees that they fuck each other with their eyes everytime they cross paths, or, at least, that he fucks her with his eyes.

She scoffs at Riley's Prince Charming and bitterly tells the brunette of his hormones.

Riley's face flushes and she admits what Maya already knows, she's never been kissed, let alone touched so intimately.

"Can you teach me?" She asks.

For Maya, the earth stops spinning. Gravity ceases. The stars align.

She says yes, knowing this is as close as she will ever get to their cardboard castle now.

The kisses are of the gentle, soft variety. Maya cherishes each one, happy to be so close to her fairy tale again. The touching is careful, never going too far. It's just to teach Riley how to play with his hair and run her hands over his chest but it makes Maya shiver with something she can't place. This is enough for her.

**S**he realizes why she was so jealous of him stealing her fairy tale when he kisses Riley, gently. She realizes she's in love with her best friend.

But she knows her best friend wants a prince, and she will never be a prince.

So she pretends nothing has changed and she doesn't know about these feelings, she kisses Farkle as hard and rough as she can. They don't date, she doesn't want to date anyone. They just hook up in the janitor's closet as often as possible.

She cries to Riley about how used she feels. Riley rebuilds their cardboard castle and they dance until Maya can't walk anymore and everything is right with the world again. This is beyond enough for the blonde.

But the next day Riley is Lucas' princess again.

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reviews are love.


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